Ditched and walled enclosures in Prehistoric Iberia (4th-3rd millennia cal. BCE): Like oil and water
Iberian Copper Age «ditched» and «walled» enclosure sites are often thought to represent two clearly distinguishable groups of sites. However, the discovery of sites where both ditches and walls are present («mixed sites») complicates things. There are good reasons to question whether the aforementi...
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Universidad de Alicante
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Lucentum |
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| Online Access: | https://lucentum.ua.es/article/view/25385 |
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| author | Víctor Jiménez-Jáimez Marcos García-García Adara López-López David W. Wheatley |
| author_facet | Víctor Jiménez-Jáimez Marcos García-García Adara López-López David W. Wheatley |
| author_sort | Víctor Jiménez-Jáimez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Iberian Copper Age «ditched» and «walled» enclosure sites are often thought to represent two clearly distinguishable groups of sites. However, the discovery of sites where both ditches and walls are present («mixed sites») complicates things. There are good reasons to question whether the aforementioned dichotomy is real, or if, instead, it is largely an artifact of research, resulting from a combination of poorly preserved archaeological contexts and inadequate survey strategies and methods which missed the potential integration of both building techniques at the same sites. This paper will address this problem from a Pan-Iberian
perspective, as we will compare type-sites across multiple Iberian regions. We shall formulate and test seven relevant hypotheses by undertaking multiple comparative analyses at various scales on top of a purpose-built database including 345 sites. Among others, we will address questions such as: How frequent or rare are mixed sites? Is the perceived duality of the archaeological record (ditched versus walled) a by-product of preservation issues or the differential availability of certain building materials?
Did walled and ditched enclosures really coexist in space
and time? We conclude that: (a) Chalcolithic Iberian enclosures are markedly dichotomous (ditched vs walled); (b) «mixed» sites are rare exceptions rather than the rule; (c) walled and ditched enclosures show important differences in key features (topographic setting, geographical distribution); (d) such differences cannot be solely attributed to geological factors. The paper will end with a discussion of possible explanations for this dichotomy. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-584e964cadb648939af0b7e7002f0cde |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0213-2338 1989-9904 |
| language | Catalan |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Universidad de Alicante |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Lucentum |
| spelling | doaj-art-584e964cadb648939af0b7e7002f0cde2025-02-06T11:47:10ZcatUniversidad de AlicanteLucentum0213-23381989-99042025-01-0144275410.14198/LVCENTVM.2538533557Ditched and walled enclosures in Prehistoric Iberia (4th-3rd millennia cal. BCE): Like oil and waterVíctor Jiménez-Jáimez0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0534-8543Marcos García-García1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5778-7893Adara López-López2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3736-1179David W. Wheatley3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7265-704XUniversidad de MálagaMinisterio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y CooperaciónInvestigadora independienteUniversity of SouthamptonIberian Copper Age «ditched» and «walled» enclosure sites are often thought to represent two clearly distinguishable groups of sites. However, the discovery of sites where both ditches and walls are present («mixed sites») complicates things. There are good reasons to question whether the aforementioned dichotomy is real, or if, instead, it is largely an artifact of research, resulting from a combination of poorly preserved archaeological contexts and inadequate survey strategies and methods which missed the potential integration of both building techniques at the same sites. This paper will address this problem from a Pan-Iberian perspective, as we will compare type-sites across multiple Iberian regions. We shall formulate and test seven relevant hypotheses by undertaking multiple comparative analyses at various scales on top of a purpose-built database including 345 sites. Among others, we will address questions such as: How frequent or rare are mixed sites? Is the perceived duality of the archaeological record (ditched versus walled) a by-product of preservation issues or the differential availability of certain building materials? Did walled and ditched enclosures really coexist in space and time? We conclude that: (a) Chalcolithic Iberian enclosures are markedly dichotomous (ditched vs walled); (b) «mixed» sites are rare exceptions rather than the rule; (c) walled and ditched enclosures show important differences in key features (topographic setting, geographical distribution); (d) such differences cannot be solely attributed to geological factors. The paper will end with a discussion of possible explanations for this dichotomy.https://lucentum.ua.es/article/view/25385copper ageiberian peninsuladitched enclosureswalled enclosuresspatial analysislithological analysisgeographical distribution |
| spellingShingle | Víctor Jiménez-Jáimez Marcos García-García Adara López-López David W. Wheatley Ditched and walled enclosures in Prehistoric Iberia (4th-3rd millennia cal. BCE): Like oil and water Lucentum copper age iberian peninsula ditched enclosures walled enclosures spatial analysis lithological analysis geographical distribution |
| title | Ditched and walled enclosures in Prehistoric Iberia (4th-3rd millennia cal. BCE): Like oil and water |
| title_full | Ditched and walled enclosures in Prehistoric Iberia (4th-3rd millennia cal. BCE): Like oil and water |
| title_fullStr | Ditched and walled enclosures in Prehistoric Iberia (4th-3rd millennia cal. BCE): Like oil and water |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ditched and walled enclosures in Prehistoric Iberia (4th-3rd millennia cal. BCE): Like oil and water |
| title_short | Ditched and walled enclosures in Prehistoric Iberia (4th-3rd millennia cal. BCE): Like oil and water |
| title_sort | ditched and walled enclosures in prehistoric iberia 4th 3rd millennia cal bce like oil and water |
| topic | copper age iberian peninsula ditched enclosures walled enclosures spatial analysis lithological analysis geographical distribution |
| url | https://lucentum.ua.es/article/view/25385 |
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